• ISBN13: 9780199470747
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: Religion and Philosophy
• Publisher: Oxford UP
• Publisher Imprint: Oxford UP
• Publication Date: September 12, 2016
• Pages: 280
• Original Price: INR 995.0
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 480 grams
• BISAC Subject(s): Wars & Conflicts / General

Present-day militaries are often microcosms of the societies that maintain them. Unsurprising then that the armed forces have to come to terms with the question of religion, a subject that has increasingly become of importance in modern nation states. At the very heart of these connections between the armed forces, religion and society is the institution of military chaplaincy. Acting as spiritual guides, military chaplains contribute to war efforts by espousing the legitimacy of state violence and preserving the mental health of soldiers. Their role in performing the last rites of the fallen is also of paramount importance. Through cross-cultural analysis and taking into account the diversities of military chaplaincies, this volume examines how they mirror societal attitudes towards the armed forces and also contribute in shaping them. Comparing the varied cultural and political contexts of the USA, India, Slovenia, South Korea, Japan and many other countries, the book takes a pioneering step towards broadening the horizons of existing scholarship in this field.

Torkel Brekke is Deputy Director and Research Professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO), Norway. He is the author of several books, among them Faithonomics: Religion and the Free Market (2016) and Fundamentalism: Prophecy and Protest in an Age of Globalization (2012).

Vladimir Tikhonov is Professor at the University of Oslo. Recently, he published Modern Korea and Its Others: Perceptions of the Neighbouring Countries and Korean Modernity (2015) and co-edited (with Torkel Brekke) Buddhism and Violence: Militarism and Buddhism in Modern Asia (2012).